Mavs come back from 19 behind

Cavaliers held to Dallas-record 8 points in quarter

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, March 15, 2006

DALLAS - On the night Avery Johnson moved into the NBA record book, the Dallas Mavericks made their defense-oriented coach proud with a little history of their own.

The injury-depleted Mavs erased a 19-point deficit by holding the Cleveland Cavaliers to only eight points in the third quarter — the fewest they've ever allowed in any quarter — and kept rallying for a 91-87 victory Tuesday night, giving Johnson his record 66th victory over his first 82 games in charge.

Johnson helped inspire the comeback by calmly telling his players at halftime that he wanted them "to play like they're on the playground, it's 7-7, 8 is game and if you lose you've got to wait an hour to get back on the court."

"Everyone responded," said Jerry Stackhouse, who started the second half and was on the court throughout the comeback. "We knew it was just a bad first half."

Dirk Nowitzki and Marquis Daniels combined for 20 points during Dallas' 29-4 run from the opening minutes of the third quarter to the start of the fourth. The streak took the Mavericks from being down by 19 points to leading by six.

The Cavaliers never went back in front, although they were within 86-84 after a basket by LeBron James with 15 seconds left. The Mavs held on by making five of six foul shots.

Playing without starters Josh Howard and Adrian Griffin, and also missing key reserve Devin Harris, Dallas remained tied with San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference and hit 50 wins for the sixth straight season.

Johnson was guaranteed of having the most coaching victories after the equivalent of a full season regardless of the result.